- Reviewing Ipman's debut album, Depatterning, RA's Holly Dicker called it a "nonlinear mashup of drum & bass, dubstep and techno crossover." She also said that it sounded like something that UK producer Jack Gibbons "had to put out in order to move on." From the sound of Constrict / Running Man, she was right. There's little about Gibbons' latest Tectonic 12-inch that's beholden to the hardcore classicism he based his album around. "Constrict" has a junglist edge to its rhythms, but its counterpart is cacophonous techno with an industrial backdrop.
Fans may miss the dubwise sonics and drum & bass flourishes that Gibbons spent many years perfecting. Constrict / Running Man could probably pass for an entirely different artist, but there's still a power and precision to the drum work that speaks to previous Ipman records. He also scales every sound to a gargantuan size. The slanted kicks of "Constrict" land with brute force, and the modular synths move at a dizzying pace. "Running Man"'s jackhammer rhythm, distorted low-end and groaning FX aren't such convincing developments for Gibbons, but it would seem that he's just getting started.
TracklistA Constrict
AA Running Man